


to love and be loved

by mellivia



Category: Scandal (TV)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, Politics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:15:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29678979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellivia/pseuds/mellivia
Summary: When one night changes everything between Mellie and Olivia and the aftermath leads to a long road of regret, jealousy, and so much more. Set in season 5.
Relationships: Mellie Grant/Olivia Pope
Comments: 13
Kudos: 21





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, guys! This is my first fanfic, so please bear with me on this journey. I apologize for any punctuation or grammatical errors in advance and I do appreciate constructive criticism. Anyways, back to the story. Hope you enjoy it!

As the clock’s hands inch closer to nine, the team waits around the conference room in bated silence for Olivia’s phone to ring. Exhaustion from the campaign settles in their bones as they prepare for yet another setback. And although failure is familiar to everyone in the room, fingers still cross and heads still bow in prayer to a God they weren’t too sure existed.

As if on cue, the shrill sound of Olivia’s phone blares throughout the halls of Olivia Pope and Associates. She sighs, mentally preparing herself for bad news, before answering the call, “Olivia Pope speaking.”

Mellie stands in front of her, her wide blue eyes searching the other woman’s face for any indication of the direction of the conversation. Quinn and Huck glance at each other, both scared of the impact this might have on Olivia who’s been working herself to the bone to get her candidate standing in the oval as president come January.

They wait a short while before Olivia thanks the person on the other end and hangs up. She looks back at everyone before a smile grows on her lips, “Senator Baker has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow morning where she’ll be announcing her endorsement for Mellie.”

A weight is lifted from Mellie's shoulders as she closes her eyes in relief. A part of her wasn’t so sure she would make it this far in the campaign. Years of being talked down to and reduced to just a woman behind her man, her dreams started to seem nearly impossible. But here she was, leading ahead of Susan in the polls as more and more people rallied behind her and she had no one else to thank, but Olivia, one of the only people in her life that believed in her dreams, that believed in her.

Olivia watches as Quinn and Marcus high-five each other before she speaks up again, “But that doesn’t mean we won, not yet. We still need to get dirt on Hollis.” He was ahead of both Mellie and Susan in the polls, although she found it difficult to understand how a man like that could garner that much support despite the racist and sexist things he spewed at any given opportunity.

Quinn’s smile turns into a pout, “Can’t we do that tomorrow? Charlie’s been texting me non-stop, he had something special planned for us tonight.”

“Fine, but I need you all here tomorrow morning.”

“Got it, boss.” They pack up their things up and walk quickly to the elevator before she changes her mind.

Once they’re gone, she turns back to Mellie who stares back at her with her arms crossed, “What?”

“You work them too hard.” What she really wants to say is that Olivia worked too hard, but if she did, she knew the other woman would only get upset at her concerns and say she was fine.

Olivia moves past her and collects the scattered papers on the table, “Do I?”

“You do, even though I have Senator Baker’s endorsement and am ahead of Susan.”

She laughs, “Don’t get cocky now, Hollis is still ahead of you and you and I both know what that man is capable of to ensure that he stays that way.”

They both think back to the days leading up to the election years back. The long, stressful hours they spent contemplating if Fitz was worth losing their innocence over, if they were willing to bear the weight and guilt that came with election rigging. It was hard to forget just how comfortable Hollis was at the idea as if rigging an election wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the things he had done to get to where he was. It was reminder for the two women that no matter the circumstances, they would never allow themselves to become so driven by power to a point they couldn’t come back from.

Olivia walks over to the counter and her eyes settle on the bottle of red wine she saved for special occasions. Her hand hovers over the bottle before she decides against it. With just the two of them there this late at night and that night months back that had changed everything between them still fresh in her mind, alcohol was definitely not the best thing to have in her system at the moment.

“Well,” Mellie sits on the edge of the table and watches Olivia grab the papers on the counters before placing them in the file cabinet, “I don’t plan on losing the campaign, especially to Hollis Doyle.” Her disgust for the man is evident in the way she says his name.

Olivia smiles, “Neither do I.”

“Good.” She says with a smile of her own and hands Olivia the leftover papers on the table. As Olivia reaches for them, her hand brushes against the other woman’s and it’s hard for either of them to ignore the spark that ignites from the simple touch. Mellie looks up to find Olivia staring intently at her with a faraway look in her eyes before she quickly pulls away and walks back over to the file cabinet.

Mellie sighs and stands, “Anyways, I should be heading home.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow,” Olivia says with her back still facing the other woman.

Mellie wants to say something more, but she’s not sure what or if there’s anything left to say after that night. So instead, she gives Olivia one last look before grabbing her bag and coat and heading to the elevator.

Olivia listens to the sound of her heels get further away and elevator doors close before she grabs the bottle of red wine with shaky hands. Her fingers work quickly to remove the cork before she takes a large swig from the bottle. Leaning with her back against the counter, her knuckles tightly grip the edge to ground herself as regret ate away at her insides.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who commented and left a kudos. Feedback helps me write faster! Anyways, hope y'all enjoy this chapter!

Olivia sits behind the desk in her office, reading through her latest client’s file. OPA wasn’t taking many cases as of lately with the campaign going on, but once in a while, a client would come to them with a high-profile case that they couldn’t refuse. 

Senator Truman had found himself in a scandal of his own when tapes of him and a male sex worker were leaked online. With this case capturing most of the media’s attention, it shifted a lot of the focus away from Hollis’ racist comments during his recent interview with Carla Steele which meant Olivia had to work quickly to find who leaked the tapes and have this case closed in time for the next Republican debate.

Olivia reads over the same sentence she’s been reading for the past five minutes before she closes the file with defeat. She rests her elbows against the desk with her head in her hands and eyes closed. Between this case, the campaign, and what happened a few nights ago, she was having a hard time getting work done.

She hadn’t seen Mellie in a few days, but she couldn’t get the woman out of her head. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking about what could have happened between them if she hadn’t pulled away. The thought of warm hands on her smooth skin and soft lips moving against her own fills her mind before she’s pulled from her thoughts by a sharp knock and looks up to see Marcus who looks like he’s been standing there for a while. 

“You okay?”

She exhales and sits up, grateful for the distraction, “I’m fine. What is it?”

“The Senator’s ex-wife is here; she says she might know who leaked the tapes.” He walks up to her desk and places a file on it.

“What’s this?"

“Something Huck found on Hollis Doyle.”

“I’ll take a look at it later,” she says before standing up and following him out of her office. “Let’s just get this case closed first.”

Marcus looks back at her, “You sure you’re okay?”

“I said I’m fine, Marcus.” Her tone is short, and he knows not to ask her again. 

“Ms. Truman,” Olivia greets the woman who looks like her week has been hell with her tear-stained cheeks and messy hair thrown in a braid. She holds her jacket tight around her small frame as if to shield herself from their scrutiny, having been laid bare, inspected, and judged by the public eye enough this week. Olivia takes a step forward, “In order for us to help you, we need you to tell us what you know about the tapes.”

It took all afternoon, but eventually, they found their answer. It was revealed that Ms. Truman’s partner had released the tapes, hellbent on destroying Senator Truman’s life after they had an affair of their own during the senator and his ex-wife’s marriage before he broke it off. He had stalked Ms. Truman before they began dating and used her to get revenge on the senator. As complicated as it was, the case was closed, and Olivia was back to digging up dirt on Hollis.

She grabs the folder off her desk and drives a few blocks over. Entering the building, she’s greeted by a woman with blonde curly hair sitting at the front desk.

“Ms. Pope,” she says slowly, her eyebrows knitted in confusion. “What can I do for you?”

“I have a meeting with the Senator. It should be on her schedule.”

The woman pulls up Mellie’s schedule on her computer, “I’m afraid there’s no meeting planned. Maybe you have the date wrong?”

Before Olivia can respond, someone leans against the secretary’s desk next to her. She looks over to see Elizabeth North. She hasn’t seen the woman since she last left the white house, so she wasn’t sure what she was up to these days let alone why she was standing in Mellie’s office.

Liz glances at her with a presumptuous smirk before turning to the secretary, “Hey, Rachel. Is Mellie ready?”

This catches Olivia’s attention. Her mind races of possibilities of what Mellie might be getting ready for and why it concerned Liz North, especially since they had scheduled a meeting for today to discuss how to handle Hollis Doyle.

“Uh,” she looks between the two women before picking up the phone on her desk and dialing a number. “Ms. Grant, I have Ms. North and,” she glances over at Olivia, “Ms. Pope here to see you.” A pause. “Yes, Ma’am,” she says before hanging up the phone. “She’ll be right out.”

They wait in silence until Elizabeth speaks up first, “Olivia.”

“Elizabeth,” she says, her tone equally as bitter as the other woman’s.

“Why exactly are you here?” Elizabeth asks before putting her hands up in mock defense, “If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

She does mind. In fact, she’d prefer the other woman to stay silent. The two of them had never really gotten along, two powerhouses that clashed at any chance given and this time was no different. “Senator Grant and I have a meeting.”

Rachel looks between the woman with discomfort as she watches the scene unfold. She can feel the air growing thick with tension as the conversation went on.

Elizabeth’s lips stretch into a smile, one that unnerves Olivia (though, she’d never admit it) as she waits for a response. “Senator Grant and I have a date.” 

(When Mellie and Fitz divorced, she had also decided that it was time to come out to the public as bisexual. Of course, it had started a lot of conversation – a bisexual republican woman who was also making a bid for the presidency was unheard of. The republican party had come down hard on her, claiming that they were deceived whereas the democratic party was a lot more accepting of her and glad to see a republican “wreaking havoc” on her own party. Fitz had supported her through the whole thing just as they discussed which helped the GOP lighten up on her a little. And although the conversation about her sexuality was still something the media used in an attempt to knock her off her game, she wouldn’t allow it, and neither would Olivia, who was by her side every step of the way.)

Olivia looks at her, really looks at her, and she can tell she’s telling the truth. But, as her palms grow sweaty and her heart speeds up, she still tells herself that Liz is lying, that there’s no way Mellie would prioritize a date over her campaign, that there’s no way she would prioritize Liz North over her. So, she waits for Mellie to come out and convinces herself that when she does, she’ll tell Liz to go away.

A silence falls over the women as they wait. It’s a short while before the door finally opens and Olivia immediately knows she lost the battle.

Mellie wears a red off-the-shoulder dress that stops just below her knees and hugs her curves modestly with a pair of black heels. Her hair is curled at the ends to finish the look. She looks amazing and Olivia knows it isn’t for her.

“Liv, what are you doing here?” she asks as she puts her coat on. 

Olivia ignores the way Elizabeth’s smile grows wider and answers, “We had a meeting.”

Her eyes grow wide and she gasps, “I knew I was forgetting something; our meeting had completely slipped my mind, otherwise I wouldn’t have scheduled anything else for tonight. I’m so sorry, Liv.”

She nods her head and smiles despite how torn up she is inside, “It’s fine, really, we can always reschedule.”

“Are you sure? Because – ”

“She’s sure,” Elizabeth cuts in, placing a hand on Mellie’s lower back, “Right, Liv?”

Olivia purses her lips, “Right.” 

Mellie looks at Olivia and she knows that somethings bothering her. She briefly wonders if it has something to do with their date, but she reminds herself that it can’t be that.

Olivia heads to the exit, “You guys have a good night.”

“We will,” Elizabeth says before Mellie looks at her pointedly, “I mean, you too.”

And with that, she leaves.

That night, Olivia lays in bed on her back, staring up at the ceiling above her. She wonders why Mellie hadn’t told her about a date, but then again, why would she? That night changed everything between them, causing them to grow apart, and while they were able to get back to being in a place where every second spent together wasn’t awkward, things were still different between them.  
She wipes roughly at the tears that slide down the side of her face with the back of her hand. How could she cry over a situation she created, she thinks to herself. She had a chance to change things months ago, but she didn’t take it and now here she was crying herself to sleep over the woman who was starting to move on with her life.

A few blocks over, Mellie does her best to listen to Elizabeth, but the look on Olivia’s face, the disappointment, and something else she couldn’t quite place still plays on her mind. Part of her wants to call the date off and head over to Liv’s. Liz had booked them at a beautiful restaurant and even planned for something after, but after earlier, Mellie wasn’t entirely in the mood anymore.

When Liz had asked her on a date, it had shocked her, to say the least. They had gotten closer over the months which was surprising considering their history, but after Liz left the white house and became chairman of the RNC, she and Mellie had reconciled and were able to put the past behind them much like Mellie and Olivia. They were able to bond over being some of the only gay politicians in the republican party. 

“Mellie,” Liz waves her hand in Mellie’s face before placing her hand over her’s to capture her attention, “are you okay?”

Mellie looks at the woman in front of her and their joined hands. She’s overcome by the realization that this is her chance to move on, to move past the hurt and anger. Olivia had already made her decision and it was time for her to make her own. So, taking a small sip of her wine, she sits up and places her hand over the other woman’s, “I’m sorry, Liz, what were you saying?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be a flashback that should answer everyone's question (I think? Hopefully?): What happened /that/ night?


End file.
